Making Green Mainstream with Annalea Krebs of Social Nature
Social Nature is a product sampling community platform dedicated to helping people make greener choices, and today we speak to its Founder and CEO, Annalea Krebs.
Our guest is on a lifelong mission to ‘make green mainstream’ and we kick off our chat hearing about the different businesses she built as her journey unfolded. She weighs in on how her vision evolved as she built three companies, TheChange, ethicalDeal, and most recently, Social Nature. The business model used by ethicalDeal shared some characteristics with Groupon, making use of a deal-based system, and Annalea talks about how she hacked it to push the needle forward from a sustainability perspective by encouraging consumers to take action. Social Nature shifted focus from service-providers to manufacturers, using a model that offers customers free samples in exchange for reviews and data, and Annalea takes us on a deep dive into how this ingenious strategy works.
We also talk about the methods Annalea has used to build communities around her companies over the years, the value of her bootstrapping experience to her current approach, and the exciting new developments to look out for from Social Nature looking forward. So for an amazing conversation about how Annalea is driving consumers toward more sustainable choices while helping eco-friendly businesses reach new customers, tune in today!
Key Points From This Episode:
Annalea introduces herself and her life’s mission to make green mainstream.
The different companies Annalea has founded and the evolution of her mission to link eco-friendly companies to consumers.
Comparing Annalea’s previous company, ethicalDeal, to Groupon.
Perspectives on bootstrapping a business versus taking venture capital.
Strategies Annalea used to measure the growth of businesses that used ethicalDeals.
The community acquisition and engagement methods ethicalDeal used: educational resources and more.
How ethicalDeal triggered the concept for Social Nature and the different business model Social Nature uses.
Providing customers with free samples online and capturing information for targeting.
Strategies Social Nature used to grow their community; partnerships, referrals, and reviews.
A deep dive into the ideal Social Nature client and the clever way it promotes their product.
How clients use Social Nature whether they are promoting a new or existing product.
Insights into consumer behavior and where the needle is moving based on the data Annalea has.
Exciting new projects and what is in store for Social Nature: a new product launchpad and more.
Tweetables:
“I’m a mission-driven entrepreneur and my mission is to make green mainstream.” — @AnnaleaKrebs [0:01:10]
“We had been mostly focused on local service providers and not as focused on manufacturers and brands and products but a comment from our community had me start to look into that.” — @AnnaleaKrebs [0:22:42]
“We have 600 000 members who have joined Social Nature to make the switch to better-for-you products and we work with over 500 food and health brands across North America who use us for product sampling.” — @AnnaleaKrebs [0:25:43]
“Sometimes the brand wants reviews for new products and in that case, we ask that they give it for free in exchange for a review but if they are just looking to drive sales and brand awareness then oftentimes a follow-up discount can do the trick.” — @AnnaleaKrebs [0:40:59]
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
